Chapter 16 – Relax, She Won’t Trace It Back to Us
Lin Xi set down the half-washed vegetables, dried her hands on her apron, and returned to the living room to watch the news.
Sure enough, they were reporting on the robbery at Jinrui Bank that had occurred this morning.
A police cordon had been set up around the bank. A reporter stood outside the line, reporting on the situation as it developed.
On the screen, bold red text highlighted that one person had been shot dead during this violent robbery.
Sitting on the sofa, Shi Yu looked completely unbothered, as if none of this had anything to do with her.
Lin Xi, on the other hand, nervously gripped the hem of her apron. After all, she was one of the “Three Fierce Bandits” mentioned in the headlines.
Lin Xi asked herself what she had ever done to deserve the title of a fierce bandit.
Sigh.
She wanted to cry, but no tears came.
Lin Xi carefully retraced the events in her mind. All three of them had been wearing hoods, the entire operation was finished within three minutes, and they had run incredibly fast… They shouldn’t have left any clues for the police to track.
“Look at you, acting like such a coward. And you call yourself a witch,” Shi Yu mocked heartlessly.
“I was always a good witch before I met you!” Lin Xi retorted indignantly.
“How many times do I have to say it?” Shi Yu emphasized. “In the eyes of the Countermeasures Bureau, there is no such thing as a ‘good witch.'”
“Besides, why do you still think of us as the villains?”
“That bastard I killed is the real villain.”
“The people on TV busy-bodying around for a villain are nothing more than his accomplices!”
Lin Xi: “…”
She admitted that Wu Tian, the bank manager whose head Shi Yu had blown off, was a bastard. However, Shi Yu’s rhetoric was too extreme. The police, reporters, and medical staff on the screen were just doing their jobs.
Most of them likely had no idea what Wu Tian had done. How could they be considered accomplices?
Lin Xi felt that Shi Yu was acting a bit like she was Batman in Gotham City, punishing evil and promoting good.
Lin Xi didn’t have that kind of conviction.
She felt more like a Joker being pushed along by circumstances-no, wait, the Joker was powerful enough to be Batman’s rival. How could she have the face to compare herself to the Joker?
She was just an insignificant underling. In a novel or a movie, she’d be the type who didn’t even get any lines.
Anyway, they can’t trace it back to us… Lin Xi intended to head back to the kitchen to finish cooking.
Just as she turned to leave, an unexpected person appeared on the television screen.
“Miss Xia Xun?!”
“Why is Miss Xia Xun at the crime scene?!”
Lin Xi rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. The girl stepping out of the car was indeed the Magical Girl Xia Xun!
“Don’t make such a fuss,” Shi Yu said, calm as ever as she munched on potato chips. “Whenever there’s a violent homicide, people from the Countermeasures Bureau show up alongside the regular police to confirm whether it was committed by Dark Realm Creatures.”
“If it’s the work of Dark Realm Creatures, the case is handed over to the Countermeasures Bureau. If it’s just an ordinary case, the police handle it.”
“Magical Girl Xia Xun belongs to the Countermeasures Bureau. It’s perfectly normal for her to appear at a crime scene.”
Lin Xi broke into a nervous sweat. “Then aren’t we in danger?”
As a witch, Lin Xi’s heart trembled at the mere mention of the “Countermeasures Bureau.”
Especially since they had deployed the Magical Girl Xia Xun, known as the “Witch Killer.”
“Shi Yu, you’re so calm. Does that mean you can handle Miss Xia Xun?”
Shi Yu shook her head. “There are three Magical Girls in Z City. They represent the city’s three strongest combat forces.”
“Xia Xun is ranked second in combat power. Do I look like the Magical Girl who’s ranked first to you?”
“I certainly wish you were,” Lin Xi said, her scalp tingling with fear. “If Miss Xia Xun is that powerful, aren’t we dead meat?”
“Relax,” Shi Yu said, tipping the last few crumbs of potato chips from the bag into her mouth. “She won’t be able to trace it back to us.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because no traces of Dark Realm Creatures were left at the scene.”
“What… do you mean?”
“It means that you and Lu Yi, two Dark Realm Creatures, didn’t use your unique powers inside the bank. Since you didn’t leave any traces, the people from the Countermeasures Bureau will likely judge this as just an ordinary bank robbery case.”
“Oh, I see…” Lin Xi breathed a long sigh of relief, but a sudden thought struck her.
“Wait, if I had used my powers back then to melt the safe’s combination lock, wouldn’t I have left a trace?”
“Exactly.”
“Shi Yu! You really were planning to save your own skin at my expense? You didn’t care if I lived or died?!”
Shi Yu shrugged.
Lin Xi was fuming. “If that had happened and I ended up getting caught, I definitely would have snitched on you!”
“Heh,” Shi Yu scoffed. “You ungrateful brat. And after Lu Yi even gave you that canned yellow croaker to eat.”
“What are you thinking?” Lin Xi corrected her. “I’d only snitch on you. I would never sell out Lu Yi.”
Shi Yu gave a cynical laugh. “If you get dragged into the Countermeasures Bureau, whether you talk or not isn’t up to you. They have plenty of ways to make you confess.”
“Ways? Like… torture? You mean like the tiger bench1 or chili water2???” Lin Xi was terrified.
Shi Yu shook her head.
“Oh, come on, why are you trying to scare me?” Lin Xi patted her chest.
Shi Yu shook her head again. “The tiger bench and chili water are child’s play. You Dark Realm Disasters aren’t human, so there’s no need for the Countermeasures Bureau to remain humanitarian.”
Lin Xi: “…”
She finally understood. If she were caught, she might end up wishing she were dead.
“Shi Yu, you jerk… you’re the one who dragged me into this…” Lin Xi began to whimper.
Shi Yu was at a loss for words seeing her act so cowardly. “Even if you had used your powers and left a trace, we wouldn’t have let the Countermeasures Bureau find us.”
“Did you think our righteous ZERO Organization was just for show?”
Lin Xi had only just joined ZERO and had no idea how powerful they actually were. Since Shi Yu was so confident, it suggested that ZERO should be considered a reliable backer.
“If our ZERO is so righteous, then why don’t we have formal contact with the Countermeasures Bureau?”
“Surely not everyone in the Countermeasures Bureau is a bad person, right?”
Shi Yu replied, “It’s true, as you say, the Countermeasures Bureau isn’t corrupt to the core. There are plenty of righteous people in there-like Xia Xun-“
“I knew Miss Xia Xun was righteous!” Lin Xi interrupted.
Shi Yu rolled her eyes at her. “‘Cute is justice,’ is that it? Do you have the guts to admit you’re the Blazing Blast Witch to her face? Let’s see if she freezes you into a popsicle and eats you.”
“I…” Lin Xi was a coward, but she remained stubborn. “As long as I’m a good witch, I believe Miss Xia Xun wouldn’t freeze me into a popsicle without rhyme or reason!”
“Believe what you want,” Shi Yu continued. “In short, the pure ZERO will not have formal contact with a Countermeasures Bureau that is half-rotten.”
“ZERO isn’t necessarily that pure either-” Lin Xi muttered.
Shi Yu frowned. “What did you say?”
“If ZERO were pure and flawless, they shouldn’t have recruited someone like you,” Lin Xi said loudly.
Shi Yu grabbed a bag of potato chips next to her and hurled it at Lin Xi.
Footnote:
- Tiger Bench(老虎凳): A traditional Chinese torture device where the victim is forced to sit on a long bench with their legs tied straight and bricks placed under their heels.
- Chili Water(辣椒水): A form of torture involving forcing the victim to ingest water mixed with spicy chili powder or pouring it into their nose.
Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.
It helps the website and helps people find this novel!
Advance Chapters:
If you'd like to support our translations with a one-time donation, you can do so via Ko-fi. For early access to chapters, 10 days in advance, consider subscribing to our Patreon.
- Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/hoxionia
- Patreon: https://patreon.com/hoxionia
Discord:
Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.
It helps the website and helps people find this novel!
Advance Chapters:
If you'd like to support our translations with a one-time donation, you can do so via Ko-fi. For early access to chapters, 10 days in advance, consider subscribing to our Patreon.
- Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/hoxionia
- Patreon: https://patreon.com/hoxionia
